The Spanish contribution to the exploration and charting of the South Pacific (1770–75): Knowledge exchange in the South Sea

Abstract

This article analyses the Spanish contribution to the exploration and charting of the South Pacific at the time of Captain James Cook. The article focuses on three expeditions conducted in the Age of Enlightenment, reflecting certain changes in the discourse of exploration and dissemination of knowledge. Captain Don Felipe González de Ahedo arrived on Easter Island in 1770, claimed it in the name of the Spanish crown and, with the help of his navigator Juan Hervé, conducted detailed charting of the island. Hervé would play a key role in the next two expeditions sent to the South Pacific by the Viceroy of Peru, Manuel de Amat y Junyent. The two expeditions led by Domingo de Bonechea Andonaegui in 1772–73 and 1774–75 explored and charted Tahiti and the Tuamotu Archipelago. As a result of the expeditions, apart from comprehensive travel logs, a series of some ninety charts appeared, documenting the achievements of Spanish maritime cartography of the South Pacific. In this article, interaction between Spanish and other explorative cartographers will be considered, giving special regard to the influence of Cook. The article presents the Spanish manuscript charts of the South Pacific that are kept in the State Library of New South Wales (Somaglia Collection), the Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid), the Archivo General de Indias (Seville), the Museo Naval de Madrid and Biblioteca Nacional de Chile.